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1995 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class SL600 Review

by sfdjdave

“Great Car for the price”

I had possession of this car for around a month. Driving the car was great. It had that luxury ride in a sport coupe. I guess that's why it cost $120K when it was new back in 1995! The only bad thing was that it does take a lot of gas. I guess being a V12 motor, that is to be expected!

Avg. Dealer Rating: (10 reviews)
"Jordan Motorz -- predatory dealership based on lies:
Recently our Ford Freestar was totaled in a collision and we needed a replacement on a short timescale. Based on previous experience with a Toyota Previa we looked for a used up-scale version of the sequel Toyota Sienna for around $10k. A number of good possibilities appeared on various web pages, but a particularly interesting item appeared on CarGurus: a 2006 Sienna XLE for just under $10k ($9995) with 136k miles and nice amenities. Most importantly, CarGurus indicated the item was underpriced by about $1.7k and therefore a "good deal." Also, the copy presented from the seller indicated extensive work to bring the vehicle up to reasonable specs, such as replacing the timing belt, water pump, belts, pulleys, all fluids and coolant flush.
I expressed our interest on the CarGurus page on a Friday AM and received an email response that afternoon from Mark at Jordan Motorz that the car was still "in inventory" and to contact him which I did. One question we had up front was a way to get the car inspected by an independent mechanic. Mark assured us that they provided a 48-hour waiting period after signing to get the car inspected. If a problem came up they would either refund or fix the problem at their expense (the number $500 was given as an example). We decided this deal was worth pursuing.
The next day we proceeded to Jordan Motorz and asked for Mark. We were told he was "with another customer" and waited for about half an hour. We were then told the van was being brought into the showroom (high tech with lots of spotlights to make things look pretty). We spent a lot of time privately going over the van details, including functionality of powered features, interior dimensions and general condition. After we were clearly done with this process we were approached by a different person who explained that this was a family business and we did not need to interact with Mark. It turns out the "family" consists of three brothers, the principal being Ashraf shortened to "Ash." We were then speaking to a different brother. We arranged for a test drive and took it onto the freeway and neighborhoods. The basic functions seemed OK. Upon return we discussed the situation further privately and finally concluded that modulo the mechanic inspection this was a good deal and we should proceed. We signaled that we were ready to sign after the more than two hours of waiting and deliberation. We had brought a check for $9995 based on the advertised price.
Then interesting things began to happen. The brother in attendance explained to us (2-1/2 hours into the proceedings) that there was a problem with signing. We were told the tires and wheels on the van had just been replaced and the managing brother Ashraf was demanding $1000 over the web-listed price (that we were responding to) before they would sell. We looked at one another and simultaneously said "bait and switch." We demanded to speak to Ash who arrived and started to give us an elaborate song and dance. When pressed for details he explained that the change had been made the previous afternoon (we were shown that the CarGurus page had changed at 4 PM, after I had contacted Mark and after he had acknowledged my interest in the "item in inventory"). Then came the question from me why such a change was necessary, and there was basically some extended mumbling in a very belligerent tone as though we were being rude to question Ash. We discussed this privately and decided to go ahead anyway given our considerable investment in time by then, the positive features of the van and the immediate need for a vehicle. The signing was completed and we drove the van home.
Looking the van over in a context with normal lighting we observed that there were scuff marks on the wheels consistent with about 136k miles of reasonably careful driving. The tires were indeed new-ish. I checked the CarGurus page and noted that the van offer had already been removed. But I had saved the original page Thursday evening and it appeared to have been posted 13 days previously. I retrieved the several high-def views of the car that featured the tires and wheels. The images corresponded exactly to what is currently on the van. We concluded that the story about the new tires and wheels was a lie. Having decided to buy the advertised item after much deliberation we were scammed into paying another $1k over the listed price.
On Monday we took the van to a competent auto service shop where a skilled mechanic spent 2-1/2 hours going over details. Major items from his report: (1) The engine computer had been reset and was not in a "ready state" (not sufficient time yet to assess the state of various engine components, why?), (2) the steering rack is leaking, (3) the rear shocks are worn out, (4) one of the axle seals is leaking (5) transmission and power-steering fluids need replacing, (6) there is no oil service sticker, (7) the need to replace the timing belt is not evident since it was already replaced in the recent past according to stickers on the engine. There were several other less-serious issues. The shop estimated the total cost for repairs would be $1.5-2k.
I immediately called Ash and read off the main items, confronting him also with the tires/wheels scam. I pointed out that his advertising text including "replaced...all fluids" was contradicted by our mechanic. He attempted to convince me that "coolant flush" and "replace all fluids" meant the same thing. There followed five minutes of belligerent invective from Ash translating to "how dare you," that he was losing money, that it was all in his spread sheet, that the wheels now on the van were "much better" than what he replaced and so on. He then asked me what we wanted and I said return of the scammed $1k and work done on the two most-important items on the list: the steering rack and axle seal leaks. There came more belligerent invective with several contradictory offers including buying the van back, taking it to an outside mechanic for further testing, to a Toyota dealership, etc. I pointed out that at two points in negotiations (Mark, other brother) we were assured of a response to any items found by a mechanic within 48 hours. I was informed that among the many things we had signed on Saturday was a waiver excluding any such responsibility. I then explained to Ash that in light of his response I would be placing negative reviews on various web pages. He replied that that would be slander against him personally. I then terminated the call, not bothering to point out that slander involves false statements, not valid criticisms.
Immediately after the first contact with Mark I Googled "Jordan Motorz" to look at reviews. What I found on a few links seemed to be positive: e.g. Facebook, cars.com each with many five-star ratings which seemed reassuring. But I didn't dig deep enough; there seems to be a lot of bitterness out there.
Better Business Bureau gives Jordan Motorz an F rating (the lowest) based on 11 complaints filed against the company that were ignored or not resolved. Some examples: "Paid $5950 cash for a Land Rover. Within three weeks we found out it needed 3000-5000 in repairs while having another $300 service done. No return calls. ... We have proof they lied." "I got a vehicle from them, it immediately needed engine replacement, I was told by a manager that they knew of an existing problem.... My mechanic has reason to believe oil stabilizer was put in it to quiet the noise, something was done, because there was no way the damage that was on the vehicle was caused by me driving it. ...this just shows me that these people are very shady and have poor business ethics."
Scambook: "Information about Jordan Motorz, 18501 SE McLoughlin, Portland, OR was first submitted to Scambook on Oct 09, 2011. Since then the page has accumulated 2 consumer complaints. On average users reported $2000.00 of damages."
yelp.com/biz/jordan-motorz-milwaukie: Majority of reviews very negative and describe various forms of scamming. Almost 100 such reviews.
Oregonlive.com: Many one-star reviews describing similar experiences with scamming and hidden problems, but also a number of five-star reviews describing the opposite.
The reviews generally fall into two groups: One group of consumers is impressed with this dealership and another group is outraged, reporting lies, scams, contemptuous treatment and losses of thousands of dollars in typical cases. I conclude that Jordan Motorz is a two-tier operation. The upper-tier inventory appearing in the showroom consists of high-end sports cars and luxury items costing $50-250k (Ferrari, Rolls Royce, Lexus, Mercedes, Audi and BMW sports cars etc). Buyers of those items seem to be well treated (but such buyers may not be particularly worried about a few thousand dollars here or there). The lower-tier inventory is some fraction of vehicles accepted as trade-ins for upper-tier purchases which then sell for $10-50k and are kept on a lot outside the showroom. At least some sales of those items appear to be rigged to obtain 10-20% beyond the actual vehicle value by scamming, and that appears to happen frequently based on the large number of negative reviews actually appearing on the web."

1990 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class 300SLUsed Cars
in
Vancouver, WA 98665

Avg. Dealer Rating: (4 reviews)
"Found the truck sitting on a lot that was
not open yet called there main lot and
everyone was to buisy to come down and
show me the truck, they asked me to
come to them first what a joke, if you
really want to sell something you should
do whatever it takes to make yourself
available, I left and found a much nicer
rig elsewhere."

2003 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class SL500Used Cars
in
Portland, OR 97210

High Price

$1,957 ABOVE

Instant Market Value of $20,543

Price:$22,500

Mileage:61,309

Location: Portland, OR 97210

Average time on market:
37 days
Certified Pre-Owned: No
Transmission: 5-Speed Automatic
Color: Designo Silver
Description:
Used 2003 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class SL500 for sale
- $22,500, 61,309 miles with Navigation System

2004 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class SL500Used Cars
in
Portland, OR 97267

High Price

$2,114 ABOVE

Instant Market Value of $17,881

Price:$19,995

Mileage:95,600

Location: Portland, OR 97267

Average time on market:
32 days
Certified Pre-Owned: No
Transmission: Automatic
Color: Silver
Description:
Used 2004 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class SL500 for sale
- $19,995, 95,600 miles with Sport Package,
Navigation System

Avg. Dealer Rating: (10 reviews)
"Very helpful, but shipping a car to Houston, was more than I could afford."

Avg. Dealer Rating: (18 reviews)
"After I called them they said they
would call me back and never
called back. I had to call them
back sevral times. When I tried to
make an offer on a vehicle that
was extremely over priced they
wouldn't even budge a little. They
guy named Toby seemed lazy
and didn't really care about the
customer when I talked to him on
the phone. I'll make sure to let
people know to not give them any
business. "